


The Unexpected Prince

by pichipichi



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Bottom Trunks Briefs, M/M, Multi, Slow Burn, Top Son Goten
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:14:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26088529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pichipichi/pseuds/pichipichi
Summary: At 18 years old, having been well accustomed to his parents' unconventional relationship and having plans of his own, Trunks receives the shock of suddenly being next in line for the throne of the small country of Sadala, after his father Vegeta uncharacteristically resigns from being crown prince for unknown reasons apart from his newest boyfriend. Now surrounded by constant paparazzi, and having to be guided by his father, father's friends and his rather intimidating grandfather, they're aiming to make a decent king out of him yet. However, apart from his privacy being virtually gone, and expectations being risen by the people around him, he also has a mild crush on his newly assigned bodyguard and he's not quite sure how to process it, much less flirt with him.
Relationships: Bulma Briefs/Vegeta (past), Son Goku/Vegeta (Dragon Ball), Trunks Briefs/Son Goten
Comments: 5
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, this came to me after rereading the Princess Diaries, and a whole bunch of Planet Vegeta AU fanfiction, and I decided to put a more modern (and Saiyan-less) twist on this type of plot. So, now Planet Vegeta (or now Sadala), is a small country in god knows where. I'm still deciding where exactly to place it. 
> 
> The ABO dynamics won't play too much of a part in this generally, although there would be mentions of it. My headcanons on this are a bit more subtle on this story since the Saiyans don't really exist apart from being inhabitants of Sadala.

At this date and age, he supposed, it was kind of normal for him and his sister to grow up with just occasional visits from their father. He's heard the story enough, they met at a bar, they argued a whole ton between that, and then had a one night stand that was also his conception. Which to be honest, was very rare in its retrospect, considering his father was an omega and his mom a beta. However, it's not like they just had that one night together, and just left Mom with him alone, no no no.

They did attempt to keep a sort of relationship together. He recalls his father visiting the two in infrequent periods, telling them that it was always family issues that kept them apart. And for a while, he believed it, as his father did try his hardest to spend time with him after those long absences. His sister was born from that rocky relationship too, even after fourteen years of his father coming home infrequently to see them.

But then, the visits became further apart. His father was more distant and more snappy then, and his parents were arguing a lot more than usual. At some point, his father left the house in a huff, and his mother admitted to him shortly that they were no longer together. It wasn’t much of a relationship, to be honest, if it was just his father dropping by every so often for a week at most, and said time spent arguing more than being an actual family. It was a period of Dad never coming home for about four years. He did call every so often, and most often, it was awkward between them. 

But Mom was doing fine on her own. She was an heiress to what was essentially the biggest corporation in the area, maybe even the country, and raising two kids along with the help of their grandparents didn't leave the two with not much to want. Except maybe a more cohesive relationship with his father, but that's his own set of issues.

So when his father arrived with an entourage of bodyguards and a limo car at school, being shocked by his sudden appearance was just mildly putting it. It was a ridiculous picture too, his father being a short man with massively spiked hair surrounded by about seven to ten bodyguards taller than him. There were no words spoken, Trunks was just grabbed by the arm and whisked away towards the limo while his friend Marron watched him go away with bewilderment at the sight. He had a hard time attempting to escape, what with being taken by two or three men that were trying to take him within the limo as discreetly as possible, which didn’t work to their favor with all the witnesses around.

And now he's inside a limo, surrounded by men with nice suits and feeling horribly underdressed in his t-shirt and jeans as his father stared him down from across. And to be completely honest, while he's glad his father's in town for another week-long visit, he assumed, it doesn't explain why he was in a nice suit worth hundreds and had dudes around him.

From what he heard from Bulma, His Dad was also rich in his own right, but this seemed to be a lot more than what he was accustomed to.

"Dad? What's with...all this...?"

He was nervous, and he could already see some of the men staring at him in slight distaste. He hoped his embarrassing, fruity omega smell didn’t leak, but judging from twitching noses, a hint of it probably already leaked out. 

Vegeta adjusts himself and begins to speak. "I had to beat your mother to the chase. I'm sure she has told you about the recent events coming up at Sadala-"

"Sadala-? What? What are you even talking about, dad?"

"What are we talking about? You know what we're talking about, boy-"

"I don't! I just saw you show up and you just grabbed and shoved me into this limo before driving off! Speaking of which, what the fuck is going on, what’s with the amount of people inside here-"

Vegeta lets out a pained sigh, and pinches the bridge of his nose, muttering curses as he tries to backpedal the conversation. "Okay, how much do you know? Did your mother tell you about your seat to the Sadalan throne?"

"Sadalan what-?!"

"Okay, we're starting there. Clearly, she either forgot or hasn't bothered to, and let's be honest, she wouldn't even bother to tell you, which is _fantastic_."

He sighs, and continues, "Trunks, you're a prince. Specifically, the crown prince of Sadala.”

He blinked in disbelief. “You’re joking.”

“Does it look like I’m joking to you, boy?”

Trunks couldn’t help but sigh and sink onto the leather seat of the limo, suddenly feeling very nervous at this new idea. “Explain, please. I thought I was going to have to take over Capsule Corp-”

“And now you’re not. Normally, you wouldn’t be considered to be in line for the throne, since I didn’t bother to marry your mother and went behind my father’s back with our relationship, but he is growing desperate. He wasn’t expecting me to resign, so now he’s turning to you as a potential heir.”

“Resign? Wait, hold on, you’re not giving me the full picture here.”

A slight huff was heard, and Vegeta responded again, “I resigned a few months ago. I’m not sure if your mother bothered to tell you this at all, but she and I broke up a few years ago, and I’m now in a relationship with a man.”

“...gee, I feel kind of sorry for him, considering the screaming matches-”

“Don’t be a smartass, boy,” he snapped back, “Anyway, said relationship has cost me my place on the Sadalan throne, but your uncle has refused to be first in line, and his wife is unfortunately infertile. Which leads to your grandfather having to seek you out as the next heir.”

“And there’s no cousins? Any other uncles that I don’t know about? Or couldn’t we wait for Bulla-? Wait, is grandpa like super homophobic-”

“There’s no time to wait for your sister to grow up and take the throne. And as far as I know, Father was an only child and he only had children with my mother. And since he knows of my past relationship with your mother, he’s turned to you as his only option.”

Trunks straightened himself up on the couch, and narrowed his eyes towards Vegeta. “You didn’t answer my last question.”

A sigh was heard again. 

“No, he’s not homophobic,” he answered carefully, “My relationship with Kakarot upset the court, not him. Actually, he gives a rat’s ass about what I do, so long as I don’t make a fool of myself. But since Kakarot is also an omega, apparently that takes the threshold of ‘shit they’re willing to put up with’, next to ‘bastard children with a foreign woman’.”

He cringes. “Yikes. And I have to be king of those other assholes?”

“There is no choice. It has to be someone of our blood on the throne. Father is not willing to have any succession wars.”

He looks over the window, noticing they were already close to Capsule Corp. Even from the limited view, he could already see a sea of reporters on the front lawn. “Fucking parasites. Tell the driver to go around the back, we’re not going to expose the boy this early to them.” 

Trunks peeked over too, and blanched at the sight of the crowd. “That’s a lot of-”

“And you’re going to have to get used to them, but not now. Pack your bags once we arrive, we’re flying you to Sadala first thing in the morning.”

“Tomorrow?! I don’t even get to say goodbye?!”

“We need you to get used to Sadala quickly."

"I can't leave that soon! I'm graduating in two weeks, I can't skip that!"

A pause was taken, and Vegeta's face scrunched up in annoyance before responding, "Fine. I'll cancel the flight for tomorrow. But you have only two weeks to prepare for your arrival at court, and I'm bringing in people to help you in the meantime, understood?"

Trunks nodded. "Yes."

"This is serious. This isn't a job you can't back out of. I've tried preventing you from having to meet the goddamn zoo over at Sadala, but there is no choice. I need for you to have your head held up high and not embarrass neither me or your mother, understand?"

He nodded again, and as the limo stopped at the back of the compound, he was quickly ushered out with the crowd of bodyguards surrounding them. Slipping through the back door and into the hallways, he was promptly met up with a pair of two men. 

Both had messy dark hair and dark brown eyes. Although both were youthful, the shorter one of the two was slightly older, and wore a suit not unlike Vegeta's, while the taller one had a suit similar to the bodyguards around them. The older one approached them casually, with a hand raised in greeting.

"Yo! This must be Trunks, right?"

A 'tch' was heard from Vegeta, before answering, "Yes. I wasn't expecting for you to arrive, Kakarot. Nor your little clone of a child."

Huh? This was the Kakarot his father was now with? Trunks didn't expect the other to be so carefree and relaxed, but seeing how his father and the man interacted, it was no wonder he took an interest with him. He sure did complement his father's personality in a way his mother hadn't. 

The man laughed, and put a hand behind his head in slight sheepishness. "Ah, well, he's no longer little or even much of a clone, to be honest! He's changed his hair recently."

"I can tell," Vegeta answered, "Why is he here?"

"Well...I heard you ask for somebody capable of defending your little boy and close in age, so I brought him over. You wouldn't mind having him around Trunks, would you? He's recently gotten off from the military academy over at Sadala-"

Trunks snorted at his words. "Little boy? Didn't know you called me that, Dad-"

"Shut it, boy," Vegeta snapped, turning towards him, before facing Kakarot again, "I was actually going to call for your eldest, seeing that he's the one with most outside experience out of all of the actual competent fools in the Guard-"

"Oh, I can call him over, if you like-!"

"But this is okay, too," he interrupted, "So as long as your son doesn't fuck up." He looked over past Kakarot and towards the teenage boy hanging behind him. "You, come over here."

Black eyes looked up curiously from the floor, and approached the group. "Yeah?"

“You’re in charge of this spoiled brat. You know the consequences if you fail.”

“Spoiled brat?!” Trunks screamed out, “What the hell, Dad, I’m not spoiled-”

“Shut up, boy, the adults are talking.”

“Actually, I’m 17-” the teenager responded back, and Trunks immediately put his attention on him. Even though he did notice him from afar, he was taken aback with how handsome the boy was up close. He couldn’t put any words on it, but he did know that he was very good looking, and he wouldn’t mind if feelings sprouted between them-

_‘How cliche,’_ he thought, _‘Thinking the bodyguard’s hot.’_

"I'll definitely protect you. Nothing will get past me, so feel free to rely on me."

_‘Fuck being cliche, he’s winning me over-’_

Vegeta immediately noticed the sudden silence coming from Trunks, and slapped him upside the head. “Quit having your head in the clouds, and move along, your mother is waiting for us.” He immediately looked up towards Kakarot, and waved him away, a sign to talk with him later. 

The boy immediately moved towards his side, startling Trunks momentarily before swallowing down his nervousness. The group kept moving forward, the hallways becoming a blur before meeting up with his mother, who was anxious, and occasionally looking out the window at the sea of reporters outside. Trunks got worried for a second, knowing his mother would never be like this when cameras were around, having loved to have the spotlight on her if possible.

“I heard that you haven’t told Trunks the truth, Bulma,” Vegeta started off, “I told you over the phone that there’s absolutely no way either of us could have prevented this. Father demands him to be in line for the throne.”

“I know,” she responded, “I just wish that he wouldn’t have to go through what you did.”

“He won’t, if he is as smart as you say he is.”

Silence engulfed the room, and the tension was thick enough to be cut through with a knife. No one spoke a word, knowing the situation was dire, and made worse with the crowd of reporters outside. A few moments passed before Vegeta finally said,

“He’s not leaving tomorrow. He happened to mention he’s graduating from school in two weeks, so I’m bringing in some of my associates to get him up to speed.”

Bulma looked up at him curiously from the couch. “You’re remaining in town?”

“I have to,” he explained, “In order to make sure none of the clowns from court try to do anything suspicious by coming here. His identity is a secret for now, but god knows that some of them will try to snoop around to gain an upper hand.” 

He swiftly turned to Trunks. “I’m counting on you to not make an idiot of yourself. Your bodyguard will make sure you don’t accidentally get killed from whatever it is you’re doing right now.”

He nodded in return.

“I’ll try to schedule a press conference next week. I’ll bring someone over to coach you on how not to say stupid things on camera.”

He turned away and walked off from the living room, bringing his group of bodyguards along with him, and leaving behind the teen bodyguard next to him, and Kakarot. The taller man smiled sheepishly, and remarked, “Don’t worry too much about him, he’s just too abrasive sometimes, you know? He means well.”

“He has a shitty way of showing it,” Trunks mumbled, and sat down next to Bulma, his head buried into his hands. 

Well, he had a lot to go through. Hopefully this crown prince business wouldn’t be as stressful as he feared it to be.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, turns out the ABO dynamics will play a bigger part than I expected, which isn't too bad, but I'll detail some of my personal headcanons for this story here for more context.
> 
> The Sadalan royal family is unique in the sense that the eldest, no matter their dynamic, can become the Crown Prince/Princess, which is why Vegeta and Trunks, despite being omega males, can become crown princes. This unique royal inheritance will be a plot point way later on, regarding a Vegeta that took over as ruler before even the current King Vegeta. Sadalan royal titles are also unique, prioritizing their primary gender before dynamic, hence again, why Vegeta and Trunks are both Princes instead of Princesses. Sadala is very weird compared to other kingdoms in this world, lol.
> 
> The way that Alphas, Betas and Omegas present is also kind of different from how other works usually do it. Their Presentation is based on how their personal scent begins to develop at 12 or 13, as First Heats/Ruts come in way later on at around 18-19 years old.
> 
> If a person's scent starts veering into the Fresh/Woody spectrum of the Fragrance Wheel (such as sandalwood and bergamot), they're an Alpha. 
> 
> If a person's scent starts veering into the Oriental/Floral spectrum of the Fragrance Wheel (such as vanilla, peach or roses), they're an Omega. 
> 
> If a person doesn't have a scent beyond their preteen years, they're a Beta. 
> 
> Scents play a big part in this world, mainly because Alpha/Omega scents have different effects on their respective dynamics. Alpha scents have the main ability to rile someone up into a fight, display dominance, and calm down either distressed children or Omegas. They also have the unfortunate effect of being able to distress an Omega if released too strongly or quickly. Omega scents have the primary ability to calm someone down, and urge an Alpha or Beta to help if they're in distress, although this can also be used to rile someone up for a fight as well.
> 
> That's all the context I'll add for this chapter for now. More may be added in subsequent chapters, and if gets too long, I'll probably do a separate chapter with these later on.

It was barely a day since he received the news of his sudden rise of status, and already people were making a wide berth for him in the hallways. His bodyguard, who thankfully was dressed in casual clothing, was beside him, giving some of his classmates sunny smiles and waving. Charismatic. As if he was just some long lost friend instead of a bodyguard assigned to him the night prior.

Not to mention classes were hell. The amount of people taking peeks at him and whispering behind his back about god knows what about. 

But at lunch, Marron, his childhood friend and probably his only one, pulled him aside.

“What was that yesterday?! You nearly scared me to death with that stunt!”

He sighed and rubbed the sides of his temples, “It was my dad picking me up…”

“Well, your dad sucks at picking you up! I thought you got kidnapped by the government or something!”

His bodyguard peeked over from nearby the wall, and started walking towards them. “Oh, phew. I thought I lost you or something. Luckily you left a trail of strawberries to you-”

And as cute as his bodyguard was, Trunks immediately turned around and glared at the taller boy. “Do you mind?”

“No, I don’t mind, although if I have to say something, I think she’s too young for you, don’t you think?” He tilted his head in response, fully aware that he was just fucking with the other.

“SHE’S NOT MY FUCKING GIRLFRIEND-”

Marron snickered from the background, and leaned against the wall. “We’re just friends. Besides, he’s an omega male, and I’m a beta, we aren’t that compatible in the long run.”

“Ah, Prince Vegeta is an omega too, and he’s with my dad, who’s also omega-”

Trunks shook his head, and put himself between the two. “Enough about dynamics. We’re just friends, and she’s like a little sister to me. End of discussion.”

“Even though you already have one-”

Trunks sighed, and turned towards Marron. _“Please, just stop.”_

She snickered again, and turned her attention towards the mysterious bodyguard, who was nonchalantly standing in his spot with his hands on his jean pockets. “Anyway, I don’t think I’ve seen you before. Who are you?”

“Ah, I’m just his bodyguard,” he explained, coming closer and putting a hand on Trunks’ shoulder, who immediately stiffened, “My dad works closely with him, so he put in a good word for me with Prince Vegeta, and well here I am! It’s been a long time since I’ve stepped out of Sadala, so I’ve been enjoying all the new sights while I take care of him.”

He then winked at the short blonde. “The name’s Son Goten.”

“What happened to ‘she’s too young’?” Trunks spat back, “You’re flirting with her now?”

“Nah, it's just being a friend.”

It was rather embarrassing to admit that he just learned his own bodyguard’s name, although it was rather different compared to the Sadalan names he’d heard so far. Almost if he was foreign born like he was.

“Anyway, I think the bell’s about to ring soon, so I have to escort him back before anybody gets any sudden ideas about hurting him-” With that same hand, he turned him around, and led him back to the opposite direction, waving goodbye to Marron. Trunks was seething inside while Goten was just calmly smiling, before his expression suddenly changed. 

_“Don’t do that again. You nearly got us both in trouble.”_

A strong scent of apples and cinnamon hit him, and without knowing, Trunks suddenly froze, leaking his own strawberries and cream scent back in distress. 

_Alpha._

His bodyguard was Alpha, which should have been a given by now, considering most Alphas were relegated to security when they weren't in high up positions, but the fact still shocked him. With his general attitude, one would think he was more Beta like in nature.

Goten's eyes widened at this, he immediately scaled back his scent to the point one couldn't get a whiff of it. He then quickly smiled at him, his demeanor quickly returning to a more playful one. “My apologies, your highness. Sometimes I forget that-"

"It's fine." As fine as Trunks could be with a sudden assault of the senses. Goten grimaced at this response, and continued leading him ahead. 

School seemed to go by in a breeze afterwards, before he was escorted back into a black Rolls Royce, driven by Kakarot. His father was nowhere to be seen, but that was probably expected, considering that he was busy. 

“So, how was school?” he asked, smiling to him, “I hope Goten hasn’t caused any trouble for you.”

“Uh,” he started, “Not really.”

Goten leaned over towards the front seats, and grinned up to his father. “I played the part way too well. I don’t think any of them realized I wasn’t a real student.”

Trunks blinked in response, and looked at him questionably. “You basically sneaked inside in plain sight?”

He nodded, and slinked back to his spot, not bothering to answer verbally.

Trunks looked puzzled at this, and settled back into his seat, still playing the events from earlier on his head. _‘Is he beating himself up over suddenly overwhelming my senses? Or for letting Marron drag me away from where he was at?’_

“Oh!” Kakarot exclaimed, already starting up the car, “Vegeta told me to take you to the tailor’s. There’s going to be a gala thrown in your honor, so he kinda wants you to be presentable for it.”

“A gala? Like a huge party?”

Kakarot chuckled. “You could say that. The press conference will take place there, so it’s basically presenting you to both the Sadalan court and the world. Sadala is a small country, but it’s a very important one, so there’s going to be thousands of eyes on you.”

“I see.”

Trunks inwardly shuddered at the prospect. He was not expecting this news, nor the fact that he had to dress up for a party with everyone watching his every move. 

It wasn’t long until they were pulled into a fancy store front. Trunks recognized the area as a more fancy part of town, and knowing from the display in front...this was a tailor shop. One that specifically catered to whomever had the money to burn on an outfit made to wear for only one night. 

Goten was immediately at his side, somehow already changed into the suit he’d seen him wear yesterday. It was sort of shocking how well the other could turn from unassuming high school student to now intimidating bodyguard. He gulped back some of his nervousness, and walked inside the shop with Kakarot and Goten in tow, looking around at some of the most expensive pieces of clothing he’d seen so far. 

“Oh, so this is the newest member of the royal family?”

Oh, his father was here, too.

Next to the shorter frame of Vegeta, was a rather lanky and tall man, looking to be more apt to be a conman than a tailor with his short black hair and thin mustache. He looked down towards Trunks with a rather mischievous smile, holding a pair of fabric scissors in hand. 

“My, isn’t he the very picture of you, Your Highness?” he asked, his eyes flitting towards Vegeta, “Of course, he’s got his color from Lady Bulma, but you two have just the exact same facial structure, don’t you?”

Vegeta grunts in response, and waves his hand in dismissal. “I didn’t ask you to comment on his looks, Scizore. I’m asking you to make him presentable for next Monday. Can you do it or not?”

The tailor, Scizore, looked at Trunks, who glared at him if he let his eyes linger for too long, before turning towards Vegeta again. “I can. He’s going to be a very pretty princess once I’m done with-”

“Prince,” Trunks stressed out, beginning to fume, “I’m a prince. Not a princess.”

“Traditionally, omegas are princesses, even if they’re male,” the tailor trailed off, maintaining his teasing tone, “But I keep forgetting Sadala doesn’t exactly follow royal protocol that much. In another royal family, you would be a crown princess ascending to queen. But in Sadala-”

“In Sadala,” Vegeta stressed, “The primary sex or gender takes priority, not the dynamic. He’s a prince, not a princess. You didn’t see people referring to me as Crown Princess back then, Scizore, and they won’t do so either for him. Stop tiptoeing that line, or else.”

Scizore’s teasing mood suddenly stopped, knowing full well he was going to incur both royals’ wrath. “My apologies, your Highnesses. What were you expecting me to do with him, exactly?”

“Make him presentable. Don’t think about shoving him in a dress, he’s going to be a future king soon.”

The tailor nodded, and stepped around Trunks, taking another look at him. Goten stood back, fully on guard in case the older man was going to do something. A strong scent of apples and cinnamon filled the room, and both Kakarot and Vegeta turned towards Goten in slight disapproval. Immediately after, the younger boy stiffened, and it faded immediately. 

“Well, I have a few ideas for him. Are you planning on him wearing the royal colors freely at the gala?”

“Not until he’s officially instituted as crown prince at Sadala. Right now, it’s just a presentation.”

“Hm. I suppose he’ll make quite a striking sight in white, lavender and gold.”

Vegeta quirked an eyebrow at this. 

“I'm going to put it bluntly, he hardly resembles the typical Sadalan," Scizore explained, noticing Trunks' sudden hurt expression, "So I have this idea to capitalize on his foreign nature. Make him nearly mythical in appearance. Even if I'm authorized to use the royal colors, he's going to look more out of place in the typical blue, white, red and gold."

"He's going to stand out greatly."

"That's the point. Make him own the fact that he stands out easily."

Vegeta grunted in response. “Have your way, then. You’re the expert in that sort of thing.” He turned towards Trunks, and continued, “You need to stay here for measurements. The tailor will call me once he’s done with you.” His attention was then directed to Goten, glaring at the younger. “And you. Control yourself. The very first thing the Academy tells you is to not leak your scent everywhere at every little thing, especially if your charge is a fucking Omega. There’s three of them in this room, you could’ve nearly provoked either of us into aggression or distress.”

Goten bowed his head down in response, feeling slightly ashamed from the reprimanding. 

“You’re lucky you’re with us,” Vegeta continued, “Otherwise, this slip up would have cost you your job.”

“I understand,” the other responded, still with his head down. 

“You’re staying here with Trunks. You know what to do if somebody decides to harm him, or if the tailor gets too handsy,” Vegeta glared at Scizore, “The two of us will be nearby if anything else goes wrong.” He then walked past the three, and held Kakarot by the waist, before leading the two of them out of the shop. 

Trunks sighed at his current predicament, and sat down on the nearest surface before Scizore pulled him up from it. "No, no, no," he chided him, "No time for rest. I need to get your measurements quickly, if you want that suit to be done before Monday."

Trunks nearly whined in response, but allowed himself to be led to the backrooms of the shop. Even only after a day into the crown prince business, he was starting to grow stressed, as well as his bodyguard.

He really couldn't fault him for it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We keep introducing some new characters to the story, as well as some plot points that will be important later on, but as when they'll be important, is a thing to think about. Also, there's hints towards future characters later on, so hopefully you'll be able to hint who's coming next!
> 
> Context for this chapter:
> 
> Since this is a royalty au with everyone being human, I've decided to add some form of last names for the Sadalan elites. Sadalan peerage, or peasants/common folk, usually don't have last names, apart from special exceptions, such as Goku/Kakarot's family. The elites do have last names, although often they don't go like First Name Last Name but rather First Name of House Last Name. Said last names actually come from Latin classifications of vegetables, like Brassica coming from the Brassicaceae family, the group broccoli and cabbages and other such vegetables come from. 
> 
> Although Vegeta's family are refered to as 'the Vegetas', they have a completely different last name apart from the elites, and it certainly isn't Vegeta. It'll be revealed next chapter.

The trip to the tailor’s was as awkward as he expected it to be.

Trunks had to stand there for the longest time as Scizore held a measuring tape to his chest, arms, waist and legs before rolling up the strip of tape and dismissing the two of them out from the backrooms. Goten never said a thing, and instead remained as a living shadow throughout the entire day.

As soon as he arrived from the tailor’s, he was greeted with yet again a new person in his house. Only this time, it was a man with equally as dark hair and eyes as Kakarot and Goten, dressed as if he just came from a college lecture. The only difference he could tell was the pair of dark rimmed glasses on his nose. Goten stopped suddenly, and looked at the older man in slight disdain. As cinnamon began to overwhelm him, a little girl suddenly peeked from the other man's leg.

"Uncle Goten!"

Goten's expression immediately softened, and the little girl, who Trunks assumed to be around Bulla's age, went up to hug the other. He immediately picked her up and started spinning her around, much to her delight.

"You know these people…?" Trunks asked, with an eyebrow raised at the sight. 

"Yep. This is my niece, Pan," and he bounced her in his arms, the little girl giggling while he did it, "And Four Eyes over there is my brother."

"Not even going to introduce me, are you?" said the other man, and Goten turned away in slight disdain. Clearly there was something between them that caused the two to be so dismissive of each other, but Trunks wasn't going to find out or get involved. 

_'Alphas, I swear,'_ he thought, _'They make every little thing a big deal.'_

"My name is Gohan," said the man wearing glasses, "Your father sent me here to assist your transition into royalty."

"My transition?"

"Just to help you with what to do when you're the crown prince."

A voice interrupted the two. "He's going to help you not make an ass of yourself in public."

Vegeta stepped in, and pointedly looked towards Goten again, who shrank in shame, before glancing at Gohan. "And speaking of things, any spat you two have is going to end right now. I’d rather not smell cinnamon everywhere because you two can't solve your issues properly. I already told Goten to control himself. Gohan, you're a beta, actually act like one and solve your issues peacefully. Understood?"

Both nodded.

"Good.”

Immediately after, another little girl came running in. She, unlike Pan, had blue hair and blue eyes, and immediately clung to Trunks’ legs. She said nothing, although Trunks knew that she had probably missed him after not seeing him for a while. He felt bad that he hadn’t had time for her even after the news broke. However, she suspiciously stared towards Vegeta, who looked at her with slight tenderness. 

“...Bulla.”

Trunks, knowing his sister’s general attitude towards their father, shielded her from Vegeta, and bristled in slight aggression. Vegeta looked at them both with confusion, and Trunks explained, “She’s not really...happy with your sudden return.”

“Not really happy?”

“You know, not being around for a kid much leads to them wondering why their dad doesn’t bother to come around the house anymore.”

Vegeta looked almost guilty by this, before turning away. They were both well aware that Vegeta wasn’t exactly Dad of the Year with his constant infrequent visits and his four year absence, but Vegeta could only imagine how much resentment the two of them had against him. 

The room became silent as the implications began to set in, before Trunks decided to leave with Bulla in tow. She pointedly looked at the group one more time, and then headed off with Trunks to the nearest private room to talk. It unnerved Trunks, seeing his little sister become serious.

It was a lab. There was nothing on the tables, but Trunks took special care in maneuvering around in the room. Bulla immediately climbed one of the chairs, before sitting at the edge of the table. 

“Mommy said you were going to leave in two weeks.”

Trunks nodded. “Not by choice.”

“For how long?”

He sighed. “Forever, most likely. I’ve suddenly become crown prince without anybody telling me I was royalty for the longest time.”

“Doesn’t this mean that I’m a princess too? Can I come with you?”

He shook his head. “You’re a princess, but you can’t come with me. Who’s going to keep Mom company until then?”

“So, you’re just gonna leave me..?”

This stopped him. “Leave you?”

“You’re letting Father take you away. You’re leaving us.”

“Bulla, I’m telling you, it’s not by choice-”

She looked at him with a betrayed expression, and Trunks immediately stopped speaking. He looked away in shame, realizing that he was about to do the same thing as their father did. He really was no better, wasn’t he? Even if he didn’t like the idea of suddenly leaving to become a prince of an unknown country, surrounded by unknown people, he still let himself be taken away anyway.

Leaving everyone behind. 

“...I’m sorry.”

Her face scrunched up in annoyance, and she turned away in a huff, before attempting to hop off the table. “Either I come with you, or you’re staying.”

“I’ll try to do either one, but there’s no promises.”

“But you said you’d do anything for me-!”

“Sorry to interrupt.” 

Both siblings turned towards the sudden intruder. Goten walked inside, looking around inside the lab, before turning his attention on them. “Uh, I know you’re having your sudden private moment and everything, but I kinda need to talk to you.”

Bulla took this as a cue to leave, hopping down from the table and running out of the room, leaving the two together. Trunks narrowed his eyes at Goten, crossing his arms and tapping his foot in impatience. “What do you want? No, what does my dad want? Considering you’re nipping at his heels-”

“Hey, cool it,” Goten spat back, holding up his hands, “I want to speak to you out of my own volition.”

An exasperated sigh was heard. “What do you want?”

He sighed, and sat on one of the lab tables. “Well, it’s become rather clear that you have some sort of beef with your father.”

“No shit, Sherlock. Should I give you an award for that?”

He shakes his head. “Obviously not, but-”

“Then what?”

Goten sighs. “I need to warn you about something.”

Trunks looks at him with interest, and raised an eyebrow in return. “Hm? What do you mean?”

“Being a prince isn’t like in fairy tales,” he started off with complete seriousness, “If Vegeta plans to just throw you to the wolves like this, you’re going to end up dying by some obvious assasination attempt. And I rather not have the kingdom compromised like this.” 

“You rather not? Then why don’t you take my place then?”

Goten shook his head. “No. It has to be you. No time for your sister to take your place, and Vegeta resigned, so there’s no borrowed time to make another heir. Dad may be fucking Mr. Vegeta, but to be honest, his only crutches are Grandpa and Mr. Vegeta. And whatever influence I have is from Dad and Grandpa.”

Trunks sighed, and turned away. “Why?”

“You’re a blank slate. You don’t have as much poison as most of the other elite, so you can be molded-”

“You’re saying that you want to control me?”

“Of course not,” Goten shook his head in response, “I’m not saying that. I’m not like some of the other Alphas. What I mean by being a blank slate and being able to be molded, I meant that you don’t have other interests at hand. You don’t have family honor to worry about, you don’t have any grudges to think about, and you definitely weren’t aided by anybody outside of your family to get power. You can just use your brains and maneuver logically around the politics.”

“I thought I already needed to use my brain for this kind of stuff. I’m aware it's just politics, no need to repeat that to me-” Trunks exasperatedly said.

“No, you’re not getting it. Politics in Sadala isn’t what you think it is. This isn’t West City, where you can just have the people propel you to power and just gain their favor for approval. This is Sadala, where bloodlines matter along with the people’s approval. You may be a Vegeta, but like I said, you’re a blank slate. You haven’t made any alliances nor enemies-”

Goten cuts himself off, and thinks. “No, scrap that last thought. You have made enemies, via you being born. But you don’t have alliances with people that are friends of your enemies. Still a blank slate.”

Trunks groaned, and turned back towards him. “And? Why are you telling me this?”

Goten held a solemn look. “You have three major enemies ahead of you. One of them is Paragus of House Brassica, the man seeking to dethrone your line from the throne. He’s not happy at the fact you exist, because that means you’ve ruined his plan to install himself as dictator.”

“Ruined? How?”

“He’d planned to have your dad marry his son,” Goten admitted, “And when that didn’t work, then he pulled strings to make sure your dad resigned. And then your existence comes to light.”

“I thought my existence was hidden?” Did Dad lie to me-?”

Goten shook his head. “No. He’s right that your identity is hidden. No one knows your name or face. But they do know that your dad has a bastard son that could inherit the throne and be recognized by the royal family, so Paragus and his allies are pissed. But he’s just the first one.”

Trunks shuffled towards one of the tables, and sat on the edge of it as well, leaning onto his knees. “And then? Who are the other two?”

“The second is my brother Gohan.”

Trunks blinked at the thought. “Your brother? But isn’t he helping me-?”

Goten shook his head again. “He’s helping you, but he’s got ulterior motives. He has the idea that Sadala should be a democracy, considering he’s spent most of his time abroad, but he is too chickenshit to go against Dad and Mr. Vegeta outright. He’s keeping his cards close and is probably your least concern.”

“My least concern? Then why are you telling me this?”

“Because he’s smart, and while he’s got little to no influence apart from Dad and Mr. Vegeta and Grandpa’s help, he’s smart enough to know who he can ally with to get his revolutionary ideas out. I personally think we’re fine as we are now, but there’s no convincing him. And it never hurts to know things ahead of time.”

Trunks nodded. “Got it. And the third one?”

“This is just me thinking ahead,” he admitted, and put his hand behind his head in slight shame, “But I have a friend of mine with a crazy twin brother.”

“And?”

“He has crazy ideas, and wants to take over the throne because he’s like a distant family member of the Vegetas. It’s nothing I shouldn’t worry about, but he’s got ideas to ‘cleanse the world’ and shit, so I’m keeping an eye on him for you.”

Trunks blinked again in shock. “Oh.”

Goten smiled sheepishly. “I know it’s a lot to think about, but I’m taking my job seriously as a bodyguard. I wanted to go into the Guard by my own merits, but...you have potential. And I think you’ll make a pretty good king in the future.”

Trunks immediately blushed at this sudden statement, his face turning pink. “Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m telling the truth.”

Goten winked in return, making Trunks fluster more. He hopped out from the lab table, and approached the other casually. “You don’t mind being friends with me even after earlier today?”

“Earlier today, you were being an ass-”

“Yeah, I’m sorry for that. Do you want to start over?”

Trunks took some time to think about it. On one hand, he could use any help he could get once he arrived at Sadala. It also didn’t hurt that he did have a developing crush on him, no matter how the other acted, so...

He was going to accept.

He nods, and takes his hand before hopping down. “You’ve got a deal.”

Goten smiled at this response, and said, “You won’t regret it. I wasn’t lying when I said you could count and rely on me, Trunks.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to my boyfriend for helping me out with some of the Goten scenes! He's been a great help with them ever since the first chapter, to which i jokingly call him the 'Goten Expert'. This is once again another filler chapter, with the Gala coming in the next chapter. Also, the boys are flirting, but they aren't that sure of the other's feelings yet. Or whether it's serious, lol.
> 
> Context for this chapter:
> 
> Sadalan last names for the elite are based on the Latin classifications of vegetables. 
> 
> Brassica comes from the Brassicaceae plant family, examples being broccoli, cabbage, watercress, radishes and turnips. Makes sense why Broly and Cabba are in this family, although the two in this AU are very distantly related. 
> 
> Lilicea comes from the Liliceae plant family, examples being garlic, chives, asparagus, shallots, onions and leeks. Shallot and Giblet belong here, although for Paragus, while his namesake is part of this plant family, is not part of this elite family. 
> 
> Tabilis is based on the latin word for vegetable, _vegetabilis_. Hence why Vegeta's/Tarble's/Trunks' (paternal) last name is this.

Things were going well.

People still stared at him every once in a while. Goten kept shadowing him everywhere, and a friendship was beginning to bud. Vegeta placed even more stress on him, but apart from that, Trunks was adjusting well. He sat on the chair across from Gohan, staring up at the ceiling in boredom.

"You know, you could stand to look a bit more interested."

Blue eyes settled on dark eyes, and Trunks raised an eyebrow at the statement. Gohan smiled uneasily, and continued, "Some of the information here could serve you well later on. I know you're not too happy about the circumstances-"

"Oh, what gave that away?" Trunks piped back, leaning back onto the chair. 

Gohan grimaced. "Right. Forget about that. Let's start off with a basic piece of information. What's your name?"

Trunks looked at him incredulously. "You're serious?"

"I'm completely serious. What's your name?"

Trunks rolled his eyes and adjusted himself on the chair. "Trunks."

"Trunks what? I need your full name."

"Trunks Vegeta Briefs."

Gohan blinked at this. "Oh, your middle name is-?"

Trunks nodded, and waved his hand in dismissal. "No one asks what the V means at school. And the teachers never said anything."

"Right…" 

He pulled out a folder, and leafed through the papers inside of it, before taking out what seems to be a small brown paper. "Interesting. Did you know your father made a birth certificate for you as well in Sadala? It's astounding how you were registered all this time but remained secret."

He slid the paper closer to Trunks, and the other leaned in, his eyes widening at the name written on it. "That can't be right…"

"The document doesn't lie," Gohan explained, "But I find it curious that you were registered under two different, yet similar names, and no one pieced the contents together."

_Vegeta Trunks Tabilis the Fifth. Born on November 11th, Age 766._

No mention of the Briefs name at all.

"My dad's last name is Tabilis?" Trunks asked, "I've never heard him use it."

"Well, active royals don't really use their last name," Gohan explained, "They're often just referred to as from the Royal House of Vegeta, or in the case of your father, Vegeta from Sadala. It's only that once they've resigned from being active royalty that they use their actual last name." 

"So my dad is now-?"

"Vegeta Tabilis the Fourth."

"Got it. Any weird last names I need to anticipate?"

"They're not weird," Gohan corrected him, "They're quite normal for Sadala. But only elites have proper last names-”

“Elites?”

“The upper class,” Gohan supplied, “They’re the families that make up the court. Along with the royal family of Tabilis, they all make up the Twelve Great Families of Sadala.”

Trunks nodded, now suddenly interested in this information. He recalled a Brassica family being mentioned from his and Goten’s conversation a few days ago, but he knew he couldn’t mention it to Gohan. As ignorant as he was of royal politics and whatever was going on Sadala, he knew that conversation was supposed to stay between them. 

“Twelve Great Families?”

Gohan pulled out another paper, and pushed it towards Trunks. “Legend says that after the Great Civil War ended a hundred years ago, twelve families got together and established the current government we have today, with their leader, Vegeta Tabilis the First, taking up the mantle of king.”

Trunks read through it. “Uh…”

“The Liliceas and the Brassicas are the ones most closely allied to the Vegetas,” Gohan supplied, “The current heir of Brassica, Cabba, used to study under your father’s tutelage. He could serve as a good ally once you formally enter the court, considering you two are both inexperienced.”

“And Paragus?”

Gohan’s eyes widened at his question, pausing from leafing through the papers in his folder. “Where did you hear that name?”

Trunks lied. “I overheard Dad and Kakarot talking about him.”

Gohan briefly looked at him with skepticism, and explained, “He’s also from House Brassica, but he doesn’t have much importance in it. He’s a middle class Sadalan that married into the family, but unfortunately has a nasty hold over his son Broly, who actually does have some influence within the family. He briefly set up a match between your father and Broly.”

Trunks pretended to look surprised. “What?”

“Oh, the potential marriage between Vegeta and Broly was the talk of the court,” Gohan chuckled, “But they both hated each other. And Broly held an interest for my father, who unfortunately held an interest for Vegeta. It’s a messy love triangle, and is still unresolved since your father refuses to marry my dad.”

Trunks blinked. “They aren’t married-?”

“No, they’re not. Your father believes that they don’t need a marriage to stay together. Which is true, they don’t need one, but Sadalan elites do usually get pushy for a sort of binding contract between partners to keep away any unwanted suitors.”

Trunks didn’t want to think anymore of whatever mess his father got himself in. “Right, so Paragus-?”

Gohan grew flustered from suddenly going off topic. “Right. Paragus. Anyway, after that mess, Vegeta decided to resign, and Paragus attempted to take power through the empty gap, but the man is a lot dumber than anyone gives credit. One of Vegeta the First’s kids may have married into the Brassicas, but everyone knows the Lilicea family takes priority in these matters.”

“Why?”

“Vegeta the First’s younger brother married into that family. Any descendants from the Liliceas are distant cousins of the Vegetas. I think there’s two people around your age that are entering court as well, but if memory serves me right...the younger Shallot is aiming to go through the ranks of the Royal Guard, while his older twin Giblet is more political. Either way, you may find an ally in either of them. Giblet especially. He’s unusually savvy in politics despite his age.”

Trunks nodded. He knew full well that these were the twins that Goten mentioned to him, but which was the one he needed to look out for first? 

“Right. Anyway, you said only the elites had last names…?”

Gohan nodded, and closed his folder. “Proper last names. The middle class and the low class usually use their birthplace or hometown as their last names. Maybe you’ll see a foreign last name floating around if any of them marry a foreigner.”

“So, did you guys come from the town of Son-?”

Gohan shook his head, and laughed. “Our last name is foreign, but neither Grandpa Bardock and Grandma Gine were foreigners. It’s a funny story, really.”

“Are you going to tell me?”

“Nope. Family secret.”

Gohan chuckled at Trunks’ frustrated growl, and looked towards the time. “Well, I have to go to lunch in a few minutes, and I educated you a bit in the Sadalan family history, so I’ll let you be free for a bit.”

“Right…” Trunks got up from the kitchen table, and stretched himself out. It was a good thing that it was a Sunday and not on a school day, because frankly, he was exhausted. As soon as Gohan left the room, Goten briefly peeked inside the kitchen, and walked inside. 

“Whew. Glad he didn’t see me.”

Trunks raised an eyebrow at this. “Were you hiding this whole time?”

“Yeah. I have to keep an eye on you, don’t I? And I’m still not on good terms with Gohan, so sneaking around seemed like a good idea.”

“Right…”

Goten whistled in slight obliviousness, and looked around the kitchen. “It’s not really a family secret like he claims.”

“Really?” Trunks looked at him with skepticism, and leant against the doorway of the kitchen. “So why do you have the Son last name?”

“Grandma Gine was adopted by a foreign man staying in Sadala,” Goten explained, “She used to live in an orphanage before, and she came across him when some bullies led her to an unknown part of town and left her there. The details aren’t really clear, but they got along well soon after, then she was adopted by him, lived with him for most of her childhood and then met my dad when she was working with the butcher in town. It’s really mundane.”

“I see. I thought it was more dramatic than that.”

“Not really. She took his last name as hers, and then Grandpa took it as his last name when he married her, so that’s why we were known as the Son Family.”

“Got it. So, do we have anything to do today?”

Goten took a quick peek at his phone. "Vegeta wanted me to escort you to the tailor's today. It's the final fitting." 

"Oh, already?"

"Well...tomorrow is the night of the Gala…"

Trunks blinked at this information. Already? It seemed like the week passed by rather quickly, and truth be told, it was leaving him a little anxious. A gentle hand settled on his shoulder, and he turned towards Goten with a look of surprise. 

"It'll be fine," the other said, with a smile on his face, "It's mostly smiling and standing, looking pretty as your dad answers the questions. And well… maybe dance, but that's another thing to worry about." He started to lead him out the door, and Trunks allowed himself to be pushed towards it.

It was an awkward ride towards Scizore's shop, and Trunks felt a little uneasy as he stepped inside and noticed the older man smiling creepily towards him again. Goten bristled behind him, the scent of cinnamon (huh, did he imagine the apple scent last time?) hitting his nose and the other's as a clear warning. Trunks gulped, and stepped inside, going towards the backrooms and standing on the familiar stand he stood in a couple times before.

The last time he visited was two days ago with his first fitting. Vegeta had accompanied him too on that day, and took some glances at the unfinished suit to figure out what to remove and what to add. 

And yet, despite this being just another suit to his growing wardrobe, he felt nervous. 

He's worn suits before.

He's been to parties before.

Obviously, those times were only because his mom dragged him to company parties and had him standby and learn because he was going to take over then, but this...this was an entirely different matter. This was just a fancier party after all, but their eyes will be on him the entire time, judging him by how well he can present as the new Crown Prince of Sadala.

The suit was simple. Vegeta took note of how flashy didn't necessarily mean good, and dumbed down the original design significantly. There was no cape, as he wasn't royal yet. It was a lavender blazer with lilacs sewed onto the breast pockets, and accents of gold near the cuffs and a lighter purple, nearly white crisp shirt underneath it with a black thin ribbon tied into a bow around the collar. His pants were black, and his dress shoes were white. 

He turns to Scizore. "Hey, isn't this too simple? This doesn't seem like it'll help me stand out."

"Unfortunately, your dad had to stifle my creativity with you, so this was the best I could do that would help you stand out the most and remain relatively fitting with the others. What do you think, boy?" He looks over to Goten, who remained hovering nearby the duo, but not necessarily near the podium Trunks was currently standing on.

A slight gleam in his eye as he stared at Trunks, thinking about how fucking cool he looks. 

“Not gonna lie.. but it’s pretty amazing. He fits right in with one of those boy bands from the east.” 

He said, before clearing his throat and regaining his composure. 

“I mean, yes sir. It looks very good.”

Trunks snorted at this response. 

"Oh shut up...I'm not boy band material."

He briefly looked at himself in a nearby mirror. He hated to admit it, but Goten was right in how identical he seemed to be to some of the groups in those posters he saw displayed on a store window once.

“Hey, I bet you have a great voice," he reassured him, "I'd definitely still fight for you even if you sound like a dying cat."

"Yeah, thanks..."

Their budding friendship was on rocky ground, and Trunks was careful to not step on his toes like Goten took care not to step on his, and his current feelings for him were complicated to understand. He felt an attraction to him, even if they hardly knew each other, but also he was slightly disdainful of his usual proper mood. How confusing…

“Yeah no problem-“

It seemed to get awkward as before, even if they were starting to be friends. Trunks cleared his throat, and tried to do small talk.

"So...what will you wear tomorrow?"

“...A suit?”

Goten took a pause to think, before continuing, "Yeah, I’ll be wearing a suit most likely. Or did you want me to show up naked?”

He teased a little bit, he had picked up on the older prince’s attraction to him, but thought it was rather cute. He was used to these kinds of things after all, and normally just shrugged it off.

He gets flustered a little at the comment, and turned away in embarrassment. 

"I was just wondering. You seem to wear the same suit day in and day out, apart from when we go to school together."

“Not exactly…?" Goten responded, "I have different suits. This is just the one I’m wearing today, I mean yes, they all look the same but I do also wear Sadalan armor when going into battle, but it’s uncomfortable so I don’t wear it all the time like I’m supposed to. Besides, you like how I look in this, don’t you?” 

He winked at him. Just slightly teasing him.

Trunks got even more flustered, and a faint scent of strawberries lingered in the air, to which Trunks immediately attempted to pull back, although rather unsuccessfully. "I said, I was just wondering!"

"Huh? Really, just wondering? Weren't imagining me wearing anything obscene, were you?"

Goten teased him even more, knowing that picking on Trunks was kinda fun. Especially if he kept seeing the young prince getting so flustered!

"No! I'm not a pervert, what's wrong with you-?!"

His face was entirely red, and he immediately tried to hide his face in the white fabric, before the tailor immediately slapped him for it. The scent of strawberries got even stronger, probably from the outburst.

"Oi, tone it down you two," Scizore supplied, checking for any imperfections on the clothing, "I'm trying to do my work here." And the two subsequently ignored him.

"Trunks... I can smell it. Judging by your reaction, you were imagining that, weren't you? Isn't it wrong for someone to think about getting involved with their employee?" Goten said, in a rather serious tone. 

Then he chuckled. 

"Just kidding, I don't care about all that mumbo jumbo. Plus.. you are pretty cute."

"Cute-?"

Trunks settled on turning his face away to hide his obvious embarrassment, even if he had embarrassed himself prior. 

"Besides, I wasn't imagining anything before you decided to put the picture in my head...and I hate my stupid fruity scent, why couldn't I have ginger like Dad or even fucking cinnamon like you?"

"Well... all of my favorite sweets are strawberry flavored."

He smiled at him, trying to get him to look back at him.

Trunks turned in curiosity.

"Yeah? But it's different. Strawberry tastes good. It doesn't exactly convey the same thing as a scent..."

"Well.. I like how you smell."

Goten continued to smile at him.

"It adds to your air of cuteness."

"Cuteness? How?"

He was completely oblivious to his general demeanor, blue eyes looking at the other with what seemed like unabashed innocence.

"Well, you're already extremely adorable.. the strawberry scent somehow makes you cuter."

Goten was basically flirting with the young prince now. He wondered if he noticed.

Trunks flushed again, catching the other's flirting. Trying to change the current subject from his scent to something else, he immediately tried to think of something.

"So uh, how come you and your family are so familiar with my dad?"

The other shrugged, and replied, "Well your dad and my dad are fucking. So that's a big chunk of it." 

He rolled his eyes."Well, that's obvious. But my dad isn't a nice person, yet he doesn't treat you as bad as he did back then. Like I'm surprised he even bothered calling you by your name."

“I didn’t even notice that. I was kinda focused on looking at _you_.”

Trunks blinked at this. "At me?"

“Because, as I said before you are pretty cute and just a general pleasure to look at.”

"You’ve only known me for a week. Unless Dad showed a picture of me to you before we even met."

“Oh. I meant since I’ve met you, I’ve kinda been checking you out quite a bit..” 

"...huh?" Cue cute confused face. That was honestly a bold statement coming from Goten. Where did that come from?

"You know, you make it very hard not to want to tease you..” 

"Aw, should I make it harder for you?"

“No! Don’t do that. Maybe I should stop flirting with you, huh?”

"No! I like being flirted to."

“So you want me to keep flirting with you?”

"Well, do you want to keep flirting with me?"

He slightly smirked.

“Not sure yet, I’ll have to wait and see..” 

He said, winking before walking out of the room, stepping away so the tailor could comfortably finish his job. Scizore muttered under his breath about horny teenagers and their propensity to cause trouble for him, but Trunks remained still.

_'He sure is something...'_ he thought, _'How bold of him to admit to things like that.'_

However, even as he seemed not to be bothered by the other's words, Trunks still mulled over them. Was the other truly that interested in him, or was it a lie? And even if it wasn't, how were the two even supposed to get into a relationship with different stations in life?

It was something to think over, for sure.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, it's really been some time since i've updated this. College, depression and personal issues were some of the main reasons why I haven't been able to update, but I managed to write up a chapter that's nearly 30 pages to make up for my absence. 
> 
> Anyway, there's some new introductions, and possibly smidgens of plot coming up. Shenzhou and their Zodiac Regions are essentially the equivalent of China in this universe, and will prob play a part in Goten's part of the plot. Also, more flirting. Probably.

"Hm, I always wondered how we would be able to get Sadalan elites into another country without having to pull teeth," Kakarot remarked with an easygoing tone, "But this gala seems to attract them all!"

"It helps that everyone's vying to get a look at Trunks," Gohan answered, straightening out his suit, "The gossip of the newest prince’s appearance is spreading fast amongst the people."

Trunks sighed as he waited in the limo along with most of the Son family along with his father. Today was the day he was going to be formally introduced as the newest crown prince of Sadala, and he would be lying if he didn't feel nervous. Goten was by his side, like usual, oddly relaxed even among talk of politics.

"Hmph," Vegeta interjected, "They're always nosey bastards in matters that don't concern them. They could've waited until the gala at Sadala."

"I wonder if Broly's coming," Kakarot thought out loud, "I'm kinda itching for a fight since a few weeks ago-"

"You're not fighting at the banquet hall," Vegeta interjected, and Trunks noticed the sudden gleam of jealousy in his eyes at the statement, "If you ruin this for Trunks because you two decided to fight at the Gala, I'm not forgiving you."

"Aw, don't worry! We can do it at the back of the hall, no one's going to notice! It's not like it's out of malice or anything…"

Everyone felt the need to slap their foreheads at this, and Trunks closed his eyes for a bit. He wondered how his mom and Bulla were faring, They were going ahead of them, and considering that his little sister was now a princess of Sadala, cameras would probably be on them at all times…

"Hm," Gohan began, "I heard Mom's coming too. Maybe it's out of courtesy, but I wonder why she decided to go to this event if none of the other leaders of the Zodiac Regions of Shenzhou are coming…"

Goten stiffened at this. Trunks briefly glanced at his sudden reaction, before asking, "Shenzhou?"

"Far east country," Gohan immediately tried to explain, "Dad used to live there before he had to be exiled back to Sadala. Mom's the queen of the Ox Region of Shenzhou after Grandpa had to abdicate."

Trunks raised an eyebrow and looked towards Kakarot in question. "Exiled?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I wasn't considered loyal to Shenzhou even though I managed to stop Sadala from invading them. My marriage to Chichi was annuled on the spot, and I had to go back."

"Wait, so what does that mean for Gohan and Goten-?"

Goten immediately shook his head, and tried to get the matter straight. "We're not princes of any sort. We're illegitimate at best since they had to annul Dad's marriage to Mom. They also forced us to split too, so Gohan had to stay with Mom, and I went with Dad. I'm more Sadalan than Shenzhouese, and Gohan just does his own thing. We won't get into the mess over there, and we can't. Simple."

"I see…"

Trunks thought it suspicious of how defensive Goten was with the matter of Shenzhou, but he wasn't going to pry into it. Not now, at very least. 

The air seemed tense again, Goten suddenly sitting up straight and with his arms crossed, Gohan's expression betraying his ashamed feelings at the matter, Kakarot whistling in a seemingly carefree fashion while his father was looking out the window. But before the tension could be cut, the limo door suddenly opened, revealing a red carpet, and rows of people and cameras on them.

“Smile!” Kakarot exclaimed, and Trunks was suddenly thrust into the red carpet. Cameras were flashing left and right, people’s eyes widening at the sight of his father and him, talking rapidly into their microphone as they stepped towards the double doors of the reception hall. He held an uneasy smile throughout the trip, hoping that no one took notice of his nervousness throughout this. 

“This is the first appearance of former crown prince Vegeta and his alleged son…”

“People have never expected that the omega crown prince was hiding a child behind the backs of the Sadalan royal family…”

“Meet the new face of the Sadalan court, Vegeta Tabilis the Fifth...a drastically different appearance from past Sadalan rulers-”

“Born in secret within the peerage...will Vegeta the Fifth be able to stand amongst the ravenous dogs of the Sadalan Court?”

Trunks felt bile rise up his throat at hearing some of the snippets of the reporters. As soon as they were out of the public’s view and into the reception hall, he immediately raised an arm towards his mouth, getting Goten’s attention. Concerned eyes turned towards him, and he looked towards Vegeta, who raised an eyebrow at the other’s reaction. 

“I thought you were used to this.”

Trunks shook his head rapidly, and tried to hold back his bile. “Cameras were usually on Mom. I was usually out of sight, out of mind unless some tabloid was trying to stir up shit on us. Can I go to the bathroom for a bit?”

Vegeta huffed, and waved for the also concerned Kakarot and Gohan to move along. “You need to get used to it sooner or later. Don’t take too long.”

Goten moved to lead him to the bathroom, but Trunks held up a hand in response. “Just tell me where it is. I don’t need you to be hovering around me all of the time.” The other sighed at this statement, and still moved to lead him towards the bathroom. 

“It’s literally my job to hover over you. Go by yourself, but I’m waiting at the door.” 

Trunks nodded in response, and went inside towards one of the stalls. For a moment, he’d seriously considered throwing up onto the bowl, but took time to steady himself by the stall’s wall. His frame was shaking, eyes were pinched closed, and he tried to get his thoughts away from what happened earlier. 

‘I’m usually not like this,’ he thought, ‘Having minor panic attacks over having cameras and reporters on my ass. Is this the stress of the past week weighing down on me now?’

A loud sound distracted him. Trunks immediately turned towards the direction of the sound, narrowing his eyes. ‘It’s probably Goten getting in. Did I spend too long trying to hold myself together?’ He was still shaking, but he didn’t pay much mind to it as he got out of the stall and met face to face with a wildly unfamiliar person.

It was a man around his age, with wildly spiky hair and a long bang hanging onto his forehead, wearing a blue and black suit. Dark brown eyes blinked at the sight of him, and remarked, “Can you move? I need to shit.”

Trunks nodded, and moved away until a different voice intervened. “Shallot, you dumbass, you’re being disrespectful!” He turned his attention towards another man walking towards them, identical in looks if not for the red and black suit and his bang hanging towards the opposite side of the first man’s. 

Shallot whined at this, and pushed him aside to rush towards a stall. Trunks immediately turned away and tried to tune out any of the gross sounds and whining coming from there. It was very hard to do, but the other man seemed to demand his attention. “Uh, I don’t mind really, I do have to be somewhere else....”

“Trunks Briefs, son of the illustrious genius billionaire Bulma Briefs and Sadala’s former crown prince, Vegeta Tabilis the Fourth...it’s a very unexpected surprise to see someone of your caliber up close so soon.” He smiled, and Trunks felt a shiver come down his spine. How...how did this person know who he was so quickly? Didn’t his father and Gohan say countless times over and over again about how his identity was secret to anybody else apart from their family and Kakarot’s?

“I saw the broadcast,” the other added, “The public thinks you’re awfully charming. Charming in the sense that you look like a nervous wreck out there, Briefs.”

Oh, that explains it. He really was going to send himself into another panic attack there…and much to his dread, the public did notice how nervous he looked. He had the urge to slide his fingers to his now immaculate, slicked back hair, but knowing how it’ll ruin it by doing that, he refrained from doing so. “Right...and who are you?”

“Giblet Lilicea. We’ll be seeing each other a lot on the royal court.”

“Right…so I'll see you around, I need to go-” 

The faint scent of burnt embers reached his nose, yet strangely he didn’t seem to react to it at all. Trunks inwardly sighed at the thought of having to deal with another pushy alpha, and narrowed his eyes at the other. "Do you mind?"

The other looked briefly confused. "What a strange reaction. Haven't smelt a real alpha before?"

"Not sure what you mean by a 'real alpha'," Trunks answered, "But I hardly reacted to your scent at all, and I’m an omega." He probably shouldn't have said that, but considering that a heavy scent of strawberries hung in the air, his status as an omega was unofficially revealed anyway.

Still, he couldn't hold back a smile as the other flinched from his words, before re-composing himself. 

"You're interesting indeed, Trunks Briefs," Giblet started off, "A bastard omega, suddenly risen up in rank after Vegeta the Fourth decided to succumb to Paragus' stupid scheme. You're interesting in personality and appearance, you know. Lilac hair and blue eyes are not common in Sadala, and you're just as fiery as your father before you. No doubt some of the elites would try to push for their alpha sons to court the rather foreign, pretty omega to gain power amongst the ranks. But let me give you some advice, that mouth is going to give you a lot more trouble than it's worth. The Fourth may have managed to keep his relationship with the peasant diplomat, but it won't happen again. I suggest you look through the elites here and pick whomever can gain you most influence and be most subjectable to your whims."

Trunks furrowed his brow at this. "Why are you telling me this?"

"If I had to choose between the tainted bastard that is Paragus versus a newly inducted brat as a future ruler, I'd choose the brat," he explained, "I have my own plans in court, and I'm not letting filth like Paragus ruin them."

"Everyone hates Paragus, huh…" Trunks trailed off.

"The fool believes himself an elite than the mid-class trash he is. He's lucky his plans have worked this far into them, but I'm not letting him advance any further." The stall door suddenly opened, and Shallot came out with a slight groan and a hand to his stomach.

"Eugh, that fancy food didn't mix well with me…"

Giblet looked past Trunks and towards his brother with an exasperated expression. "You're not sneaking out past Father's back to go hunting for street food."

"But if I keep eating it, I'm gonna have my asshole explode," Shallot whined, "Besides, I can take care of myself! I saw Goten here earlier so I'll just drag his ass over to the nearest market with me and pig out! He's probably the best backup I can have at the moment!"

Trunks didn't fail to notice the slight grimace Giblet made at the mention of his bodyguard. "Don't remind me of that bastard. I can't believe you still run around with that trash after what he did to me!"

Shallot snorted and shrugged. "Your issues are not my issues. Not my fault my best friend stole a girl from you."

"She wasn't just a girl! I had disgusting feelings for her!"

And as much as Trunks would love to hear about Goten's apparent escapades, he had to go. Without either twin noticing, he side stepped Giblet and headed out of the bathroom. 

But as he stepped outside the bathroom, he didn’t see Goten outside of the door. An eyebrow was raised at this, but kept on going towards the main hall. The reception hall wasn’t too vast, so he shouldn’t get lost. Hopefully. 

But as soon as he thought that, Goten seemed to appear out of nowhere, looking shaken from god knows what happened. Trunks wondered what got him so frazzled that it caused him to leave his post, but as soon as the other noticed him, he immediately composed himself. Guess that was a hint to not mention his current appearance.

Goten immediately inspected Trunks and the area around him just to make sure that he wasn’t in any danger. 

“I apologize immensely for my absence, my mother had me held up at the gate...”

"It's fine," Trunks responded, knowing well that moms were sometimes overbearing, "Some dude in red chatted me up in the bathroom. Figured he got in if you were distracted by something else."

“I see.. I’m so sorry. I’ll do my best to make sure it doesn’t happen again, sir.” 

He said, bowing apologetically. Trunks blinked in surprise at being called, before announcing, "Giblet ambushed me in the bathroom."

“Gibler? Who’s Gibler?" He asked, looking a bit confused for a moment.

"Giblet. One of those crazy twins you told me about a few days ago. His brother says he knows you, and apparently you stole a girl from him-"

Goten blinked in confusion. “I.. huh? Oh, Valese. He had a huge crush on her, but she asked me out so I said yeah cause I can’t tell someone who confesses with such confidence no-..”

"Right. You told me that nobody knows my name nor my appearance. Yet this guy looked at me, knew my name and straight up tried to pull an Alpha trick on me. I'm surprised he didn't overwhelm me with the smell of burnt embers." His expression morphed into one of slight anger, crossing his arms and looking around for any witnesses.

“Oh. Yeah, don’t worry about him- I...uh…" He began scratching the back of his head, wracking his brain for an explanation, "...Mine is a lot stronger than his, and since you hang out with me...well, your body probably got used to it. I suppose I’m the only one who can get you riled up now-"

He let out just a bit of his own scent just to see if it worked, to which Trunks immediately pulled his arm to his nose, and looked away.

"Yeah, I could tell. I'm a lot more sensitive to Alpha scents than I should be, considering most of my mom's side of the family were betas, which probably sucks for me right now. But Giblet also said I should look at the elites and figure out who to marry." Which was completely ridiculous. Who would even marry someone just because of how much influence they even had? Chances are that they were as insane as Giblet if they agreed to it...

Goten frowned a little bit. He didn't catch Trunks' disdain at the topic, and responded, “I thought maybe...you had thought about someone a little closer to you, after that incident at the tailor's...” 

He flashed back to when the two of them were flirting like horny teenagers. They seemed to connect well during that time, what's with the sudden topic of marrying someone else?

Trunks shook his head. "No, I don't think...I'm not even sure what we are now. You say we're friends but you flirted with me then and then turns out I'm apparently a hot commodity over at Sadala because apparently they've never seen someone as colorful as me-" 

“Y-Yeah, sorry," Goten interrupted, knowing full well the topic was going to end up hurting him if they kept talking about it.

He looked away for a moment. Of course such a thing couldn’t happen, he wasn’t an elite like him. Just a guard.

"It's fine, obviously, I don't care about this shit, but..." Trunks pursed his lips. Why did the other apologize over shit someone else to him? But the thought still stood, the fact that he could be seen as an object or a stepping stone for someone else. Not a person with agency or feelings, just someone who could propel someone to being a royal like him.

"...I never asked to be brought into this," he admitted, "Yet there's stuff I'm supposed to know left and right."

“Sorry," Goten apologized again, shaking his head, "I shouldn't even be talking about this to you. You go have fun in the gala, I’ll be standing over somewhere else with the other bodyguards, keeping an eye on you.” 

He said, before attempting to walk away, heading to his position where he was meant to stand by.

"No, wait-!"

Trunks placed a hand on his shoulder, and the other looked back towards him. Just what was the other upset about? "...I can't do this alone. I'm going to choke on my own spit at whatever's going on over there. And I'm already horribly late."

“I can’t help you here, this isn’t my place," Goten attempted to explain, gently pulling the other's hand off of him, "I am just a guard, and guards are not allowed to mingle with the nobles. We are to keep intruders from getting too close to the important guests, like yourself.”

"...fine."

Trunks turns away in annoyance, and heads towards the double doors. His expression, while hidden, showed his clear betrayal at all this. No time to mull over things, he supposed, and stepped inside the hall without waiting for the other.

Goten groaned for a moment, feeling bad and decided to just head in, keeping up right behind him. Somehow, even if it's just a week spent with the young prince, he managed to gain a soft spot for him. “I’m coming with you then- but if I get in trouble for it, I’m gonna hold it against you.” He jokingly chuckled, and led him through the hall, careful not to let anyone's eyes settle at their sudden entrance.

"Isn't your job to keep close to me? Pretty sure no one would judge-" Trunks whispered, noticing all eyes were now on his father. The hall was darkened, and the spotlight was solely on Vegeta, who was speaking about something or other.

“You are right about that.. I suppose I’ll just watch from a bit of a distance then.” It's not like his father was already dating the former prince, he could just settle by his side and keep a close watch on Trunks that way.

"Don't do anything stupid, Goten."

“How could I? You’re taking all the stupid with you-"

"Rude!"

He huffs and keeps on walking, until he reaches a point where Goten can't follow and settles near his father. With great annoyance, he took his place near the procession, and mumbled,“Why would he make me follow him, and then ditch me-"

Never mind the amount of women already taking notice of him, immediately chatting him up and distracting him from his task already. Goten did notice the sheepish little smile Trunks sent him his way, and sighed before returning back a wave. If anything, this gave him the chance to snoop around and figure out what the fuck went on the kingdom while he was gone.

Meanwhile, Trunks was currently sweating under the heavy lights on him, watching his father answer questions and comments with ease. By the way of how he conducted himself, it was hard to imagine him losing his temper like he did many times before in his presence. Although he did notice the slight furrow of his brows and the sweat collecting on his forehead, Vegeta still managed to remain calm on the podium. 

Unlike him.

To be completely honest, even before he was slated to be a prince instead of the next heir to Capsule Corp, he absolutely dreaded public speaking. It was stupid, of course, considering his mom absolutely shined under whatever spotlight and he looked like the type to show off at any moment, but to be frank, he was a private person. And all of this was making him nervous, no matter how much he wanted to deny it at the moment.

Words seem to blur for him, and Trunks feared for another panic attack (not here, not now), but somehow he went from waiting besides the throng of bodyguards surrounding him to now standing at the podium. His arms seemed to shake from gripping the sides of it too much, and sweat dripped down his face, but he kept himself steady.

"Uh...hi," he started out, looking down at the podium, "It's honestly been very hectic these few days. I didn't think I would be facing a crowd like this until I was supposed to inherit Capsule Corp, but I suppose being a prince takes priority, right?"

He could hear crickets, and Trunks feared that he was losing the crowd, or worse yet, already lost it. He decides to straighten out a little, and look more into the crowd.

"Since my dad has resigned his place on the throne, I'll be taking his place as the current crown prince of Sadala. It will be a slow process, having to learn everything about Sadala, its culture and inner politics, but once the time comes to ascend, I'll try my best to rule as a just leader."

Well, that wasn't the way he originally rehearsed it with Gohan, but that was good enough. With his short speech done, he took a bow, but not before cameras and microphones were shoved onto his face.

“Your highness, how will you inherit Capsule Corp if you’re going to be the current crown prince of Sadala-?”

“Were you aware of your eventual ascension to Sadala’s throne-?”

“Are you aware that Sadala’s elite are warring over your contention to the throne?”

“Do you have someone special enough to take to the throne with you?”

Trunks gulped, and leaned into the microphone a bit more. 

“I won’t be inheriting Capsule Corp. Since I’m ascending to the Sadalan throne, the president’s chair would have to fall towards my younger sister. As for the sudden contention over my right to the throne, I don’t think that should matter. I’m the only heir left in the family, as both my father and my uncle rejected the throne before me. If they wanted to fight over my inclusion to the royal family, then they’re more than welcome to figure out who else can ascend after my grandfather.”

The cameras seem to go frenzied after that statement, with many both appalled and impressed at the gall of the newest royal heir. Trunks could feel the glare his father was giving him from the back of his head, but he continued on his next question.

“As for a special someone? I don’t have anyone at the moment, apart from a slight flirtation with someone I’ve recently met-”

The reporters began to frenzy again.

“-but he’s my guard, so I can’t really do much-”

Trunks suddenly froze, realizing what he just said. The reporters paused, with eyes widened, and began to frenzy even more. Knowing where he fucked up, he immediately began retreating from the conference. Vegeta immediately took his place, trying to quell the reporters’ mood from his sudden admission. After an entire week of being coached on what to say and what to do with events like these, it seemed nothing was retained. 

It was annoying, to say the least, and very fucking stupid to do.

Knowing he was probably going to get an earful from his father, Trunks decided his time at the Gala was going to be cut short. Taking a quick glance, all eyes were on Vegeta (and surprisingly his mom and Bulla, who was in her arms as reporters began to coo over her appearance). He took it as a chance to slip out, but not before he spotted Goten looking rather annoyed and with his arms crossed among his fellow guardsmen. Trunks hoped he wasn’t annoyed at his slip up, because he desperately needed some company that one, wouldn’t yell at him, and two, wouldn’t suck up to him too hard. 

He trudged over, and somehow, with grace unfitting of a royal, leaned onto the other's side. "Take me outside, I can’t stand to be here any longer.”

His annoyed demeanor seemed to vanish at the sight of him, and was replaced with a curious expression. “If you say so-” 

He walked ahead of Trunks, a spew of his scent in a directed manner aimed forward, causing people to move aside for the two to walk past. “Come, my liege. Follow along.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Actually, it would be pretty disrespectful to not call you that in public, so suck it up for a little bit.”

Trunks groaned at this, and followed him out of the hall. He didn’t bother to think about how Goten was able to spew his scent the way he did, nor bother to catch any of the disdained faces on him, as they both tried to walk towards the back doors of the hall. Goten, on the other hand, glared at anyone who gave the Prince a nasty look, not liking the sight of it. 

As soon as they went outside into the nippy alleyway, Trunks immediately kicked one of the nearby dumpsters in frustration. “I fucked up!” 

The sound of it seemed to echo throughout the alleyway, and it was a miracle on how nobody seemed to catch the two teenagers outside. Goten raised an eyebrow at this, and asked, “What happened? Your mood sure dropped between now and then.”

“I said shit I wasn’t supposed to, and now Dad is going to get pissed at me, and I can't even bother showing my face back there again. Honestly, I don't think I'm even cut out for this-”

“Trunks, you’ll be fine. You just need to be more confident. Your father won’t get pissed at you, and if he does I’ll protect you.” Or at least his dad will dissuade him from getting too angry at Trunks. He’s been the witness of a few of the older man’s insecurities, which included his inability to relate to his son too well. 

"I can't do this anymore, it's too stressing-"

Goten sighed and patted the other’s back, and looked towards the alleyway to make sure there wasn’t any stray security or reporters nearby. “...I think you need some stress relief. I can arrange an appointment at a hot spring for you, my liege.”

Trunks looked at him with disbelief. “There aren’t any hot springs in West City-”

“Well, it’s not a hot spring, it’s a bathhouse-”

“I’m not going somewhere where people can fucking ogle me, Goten. I’m now a crown prince, I can’t have my fucking dick size posted in the tabloids after-”

Goten chuckled. “You really have no faith in me, do you? I can get the bathhouse completely empty just for you. I’ve got contacts.”

Trunks sighed, and held the bridge of his nose. “I only have a week left in West City. I don't think I even have time for that..."

“Sure you do. I mean, you don’t have anywhere to be right now do you?”

Before Trunks could respond, however, Goten then picked him up in his arms. If he allowed his frustration to continue any further, Trunks would probably end up doing something he would either greatly regret or make the public’s distaste of him even worse. As his guard, Goten supposed that he was the one to prevent that from happening. With another quick look around, he immediately ran off with him in his arms, running through the least populated sides of the city before arriving at a rather well lit bath house within minutes. His training at the Academy did serve him well, after all.

Once arriving at the Hot Spring, he paid a rather hefty sum to have the entire place cleared for Trunks, plus the silence of the workers staying there. Trunks was right in that he didn’t need the public finding out anything distasteful of him.

But while Goten was handling things as calmly as possible, Trunks was having an internal crisis. He wasn’t going to lie, the way Goten somehow scooped him up and straight up just took him where he intended him to go kind of awakened something inside of him. It was kind of hot, in his opinion. However, It went like a blur, because he didn't quite remember taking his clothes off and stepping into warm water, but here he was. 

Neck deep in hot water, with an attractive guard watching over him. 

However, he didn’t miss the disgruntled looking face Goten wore. He didn’t comment on his flirting statement earlier, which meant that either he didn’t hear or didn’t care much for it, but Trunks was still curious about what got his guard all annoyed earlier. He sank down onto the pool a bit more, and said, “You've got that look on your face again. Did something happen before I dragged myself over to you?"

There was a quick meeting of their eyes, before Goten looked away from the other. “There’s nothing to worry about. It’s just stuff related to personal matters. I spoke to an old friend that got me stirring for a while.” He turned away entirely, his back towards the prince, and added, “Just try to relax. All will be okay.”

“Did you hear the stupid shit I said earlier at the conference?”

“I got distracted by said friend. I didn’t catch anything said.”

Trunks sighed in relief, but the mood was still tense. Goten was still tense, from the way he stiffened his back and struggled to keep an impartial face. He might be Academy trained, but he still struggled with keeping himself entirely together. 

“Maybe you should also get into the water. You look like you're going to kill someone."

“I’m not allowed to join you in anything. I’m just a guard. But If it will make you feel better, after we leave tonight, I’ll return in my free time to relax.”

Trunks scoffed, and rolled his eyes. "We're alone together, aren't we? Dad's not watching nor the other bodyguards. Get in the water." 

Goten grimaced, and turned around to face him. “I-I can’t do that. I have to remain as professional as possible.” A huff was heard, and he moved a foot away.

"It's literally just jumping into the water, not anything inappropriate." He pouted slightly, and swam near the edge. "Besides, you have no problem with me naked right now anyway! Just get in the water."

“Okay...but I’m not looking at you.” He sighed. Trunks looked away briefly, hearing the slight ruffles of clothing before a giant splash of water. Goten settled himself a few feet away, and averted his eyes from Trunks, who looked at him with an eyebrow raised. He knew that the other did not want to disrespect him, but knowing the other was also around his age, and not like the 40 year old he was trying to be, he was slightly annoyed by it.

However, he wasn’t going to push it further. A sigh was heard, and he sank into the water again. "Well, that's the best I can do."

“Sorry. I can’t really get much closer than this, or else I’m straight up breaking Sadalan law.”

“There’s a Sadalan law that prohibits you from getting too close to me naked?”

“Well, uh...it’s considered as disrespect to the royals-”

"It's not really disrespecting me if we're both naked. Besides, you and Sadala could lighten up a little."

“Lighten up? I am currently working. Things such as this are unprofessional right now. You are my boss, and I am your employee. I need to be as professional as possible.”

Trunks groans at this. "My dad is your boss, not me." He swims over and tries to face the other. "We're friends, aren't we? Otherwise, we wouldn't be here if we weren't."

“With all due respect, your dad is no longer prince. No, scratch that, he is no longer _crown_ prince. That’s you. He may hold the responsibilities until you can take them over, but you are now the current crown prince. You now rank far higher than him, and you’re the one in line to become the next king. So technically, you’re my boss.” He said, letting the other face him now. “But yeah, we’re friends. But friends don’t usually-”

Trunks interrupted him. "Okay, I get the whole prince shtick. But I'm still a week into learning the ins and outs of this. To be completely honest, I don't think I'm much of a boss." He sighs. "Actually, I'm not much of anything, even if we are friends."

“You’re a cool person. Most people in Sadala are annoying. I don’t get annoyed when I’m with you.”

"Really? People find me annoying often. I’m supposedly too much of a brat, even now."

“Have you met any of the nobles? They’re all spoiled brats. Even the ones I’m friends with.”

Trunks snorted. "I never noticed. They're all too stuck up."

“Exactly. They’ve got their heads so far up their own asses you can see it repeating out their mouths. You’ll fit in fine, only that you’re more decent than most nobles, due to being raised amongst the peasants.”

Trunks laughs. "Really? Besides, I wasn’t that much of a peasant. I was born rich, remember? If anything, that should have made me more spoiled."

“Well, your mom raised you right. Miss Bulma knows what she’s doing if you and your sister didn’t turn out as bad as some of the people coming from noble houses.”

Trunks sighed, noting the immense amount of pressure he was set up to endure. “I have shit to be ahead of, don't I?"

Goten placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll do my best to help you out if I can. You just gotta keep a cool head, okay? If you’re ever feeling anxious, tug on my sleeve and I’ll get us out of whatever situation we’re stuck in.”

"I'll try not to make it too obvious." If they were any closer, Trunks would have seriously attempted to kiss him. But he didn't, and he's left with a lingering feeling of wanting more. It had been just a week, so surely he shouldn’t be feeling this much for what might be just a slight crush on the other?

It honestly felt that they’ve known each other for a lot longer than that.

Goten smiled. “We will get through this. And you will be the greatest king this land has ever seen.”

"Yeah." Trunks looked away for a second, and pursed his lips. "Hopefully."

“Now.. a friend had invited me out somewhere earlier.. I told him I’d go with him after the Gala if he still wanted to...but let’s go ourselves. We’ll find somewhere nice to eat, maybe catch a movie. I don’t have any plans for tonight, and I was supposed to take you home afterwards. Your dad nor anyone else said how long we could take, if you want to go have some fun that is.”

"No, uh, I'll probably go to sleep early tonight. You go have fun. I think I'm a bit too tuckered out from today and all of this week, really."

“If you say so. I still have to cancel, though. I can’t leave you alone in Capsule Corp. Not if some crazy finds out that you left and assume you went home.”  
Trunks nods. “Yeah, alright.”

It took some time to dry themselves off and put their clothing back on. Goten was immediately on high alert after leaving the bathhouse, while Trunks pondered over what would happen the next day. 

Obviously, Vegeta was going to yell at him for both fucking up the conference and for ditching the Gala afterwards. Reporters were probably going to swarm him after the incident, too. Trunks sighed at this, and resigned himself for his eventual fate.

He was gonna need to sleep a whole half day to get over this.


End file.
